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Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s class we worked on building stories around one central moment or detail, thinking about pulling storylines from singular story ‘beats’. We did some metaphor work, playing around with imagery and language to create layered meaning, and the class thought of some great ideas for approaches to short stories. We dug into the ways in which story beats can build tension and move the plot forward and practiced different approaches to writing a scene. The class then came up with some amazing story ideas based upon a choice of three intriguing moments, such as a whispered secret, letting their imaginations come to life beautifully. Such incredible and creative work, everyone. Thank you for all your amazing energy and ideas today. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Hi Beth,
Here is my HW. I really enjoyed the lesson.
Especially looking at beats!
Thanks,
Jasmine : D
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One early morning, Jim woke up as fresh as an apple. He did his daily routine, eating breakfast, doing homework and other stuff, when he heard his parents whispering to each other. So he decided to take a look. As he enters his parents’ room, his findings left him spellbound. His parents are spies! He quickly returned to his room hoping his parents did not see him enter.
All day long he thought about his parents. How did he not know about this until now. The next day at school his friends were all crowding around the Daily News was an unknown spy saving a family on a yacht which capsized. They ran across houses and dived for the endangered people and are now known as hero’s. On the way home he wondered who was this spy? After a few days, he finally plucked up courage to ask his parents about the spy. They had a long talk and at the end they concluded that his parents were the unknown spy. After a few decades Jim was taught to be a spy like his parents.
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A Lost Wallet
I was playing on the swing alone at lunch break,then that’s when I saw it.
A wallet.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>The wallet was pale pink and it had a coffee sticker.On the inside,there was a Starbucks lanyard and a £50 note.</p>
“Should I keep it?”I whispered to myself quietly.Eventually I just simply went to Starbucks to order a cappuccino.Wait,that was it! The wallet might have belonged to one of the kind workers at Starbucks! I scanned the coffee shop with my eyes peeled.Hmmm…not anything yet.
Suddenly I spotted Caroline, a woman who makes the coffee,frantically checking her packets.
I quickly ran to the counter and said, “Hey,is this yours by any chance?”
Caroline turned towards me, smiled and took the wallet.
A smile.Something a £50 note can’t even buy, it’s free.
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A Lost Wallet
I was playing on the swing alone at lunch break,then that’s when I saw it.
A wallet.
The wallet was pale pink and it had a coffee sticker.On the inside,there was a Starbucks lanyard and a £50 note.
“Should I keep it?”I whispered to myself quietly.Eventually I just simply went to Starbucks to order a cappuccino.
Wait,that was it! The wallet might have belonged to one of the kind workers at Starbucks! I scanned the coffee shop with my eyes peeled.Hmmm…not anything yet.
Suddenly I spotted Caroline, a woman who makes the coffee,frantically checking her packets.
I quickly ran to the counter and said, “Hey,is this yours by any chance?”
Caroline turned towards me, smiled and took the wallet.
A smile.Something a £50 note can’t even buy, it’s free.
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I woke up at 6 AM this morning because I had a meeting at my office. I quickly ate my breakfast and headed out. I locked the door behind me, and when I returned, everything seemed just as I had left it—nothing appeared to be disturbed in the room. However, the most important item I noticed missing was my wallet, which contained all my money. Before I left, I had placed my wallet on the table in my room, and upon my return, the table was still in the same place, but the wallet was gone. The person who took my wallet might not realize that I have CCTV in my room.
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s class we thought about inspiring a story through an inciting incident, focusing on one object that can contain symbolic meaning. We discussed story starters and examples of impactful inciting incidents, such as Harry Potter finding out he is a wizard, and then brainstormed creating stories from a handful of objects. We spoke about symbolism and how to use it and the class put their heads together in thinking through what makes for an opening moment that intrigues a reader. Well done everyone, great ideas today. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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One early morning, Bob’s Mum and Dad died in a car crash. There is only one way to get his parents life back. It is to get the chaos diamond and revive them, however it is not that easy. First you have to find where it is hidden, then you have to fight a mythical beast called Groudon. Bob took years preparing for this day where he would find the diamond and defeat the beast. As he was leaving, the house he found a slip of paper hanging on the side of the door. He yanked it out and it was a map to the diamond! He then thought to himself, what a lucky day it is! After a long time, he reached a huge gate and he decided to have a nap. After a hours, he was woken up by a roar. Was it the roar of the beast? He slid his sword out of its case and went through the gates. As soon as he saw the beast, he started fighting it. The battle was intense. At the end he place the final blow and the monster died. The only thing left was the diamond. He rubbed the diamond in his hand and POOF! His parent appeared in front of him. For the rest of their lives, his parents never drove the car ever again.
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One stormy afternoon, Marcie and her father were playing indoors. Suddenly, Marcie’s dad mysteriously disappeared. Marcie practically turned the house upside down, just to find her dear, old dad. While she was searching, she found an old compass. Only, it wasn’t a normal compass. Instead of the compass pointing North, East, South or West, it had a bunch of unique symbols Marcie had never seen before. Next to the compass, there sat a note which said,
‘Dear Marcie,
This day will always come in life. To find me, you have to follow the map in the compass. However, if you can’t find me within 24 hours time, I will never have a chance to come back.
Miss you loads, Dad
Marcie read the letter carefully, then she looked at the compass again. On the corner of her eye, she spotted a sandy, yellow button. Like a normal person, she pressed it which allowed her to travel back in time.
Marcie stared at the landscape of pyramids and sand, and she soon realised that she was in the ancient times in Egypt. Slowly it all made sense, the sandy button, the map which was now covered in sand and she noticed a note inside saying, ‘Riddle me at the lion’s cave’
‘Hmmm..’ Marcie thought, ‘This is a clue.’
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My homework for 5/5 25. I only write an outline of my story
Sam’s life is changed today because his father is dead. But he finds out that his father is been killed by others. So is a criminal case. He told—the police. But no one believes him.
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s class we discussed characters and secrets, thinking about how giving your characters something to hide can create really interesting layers in a story. We looked at how to make our characters interesting and spoke about how when a character thinks or says one thing and does another, it can change our outlook on the entire plot. We then practiced inventing characters with a secret and wrote dialogue of them trying to conceal it. Finally the class worked on creating a story that revolved around a secret which they did brilliantly. Great creative work today everyone, very well done and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Bob was a Japanese spy. It was world war 2 and Bob’s job was to spy on the Americans to find out what weapons they would use and how they would use them. However it was not as easy as he thought. He has a very strong Japanese accent so he had to hide that. He decided that he would act like a tramp and pretend to walk around the city listening to the news. All was going well, he reporting secretly to his country whilst acting like a tramp. Then one day he was reporting the news when he accidentally said it too loud and an adult overheard it. Bob knew that he had to go back to Japan or else he would die, so one silent night he crept to his hidden jet and zoomed away from America.,
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Layla was secretly an endangered kind of wolf, but there was a problem. Layla is starting college next week. Layla’s first option was to go there without any disguise or anything, but that would be an utter disaster. Layla thought of a few ideas but, they ALL had problems themselves. Layla’s heart was thumping like crazy, like a hurricane just hit her chest. As soon as she was about to run out of ideas, she heard a loud knock on the door. ‘Gulp, it must be the headmaster taking me early.’ A bead of cold sweat ran down her spine as she answered the door. But no matter what, Layla must remember one thing,
Nothing in the world can end, it’s only just the beginning.
But Layla knew she couldn’t end it, and she just had to find a way to keep her secret safe at her college in Los Angeles. And fast.
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Hi Beth!
Sorry for the late homework but this is from lesson 1,
Thanks for the lesson
Finish the story
Everyone, especially the workers, were shocked! They were staring at the wallet so hard, but not realising that it was FAKE. This young sassy girl on the street was paying fake money to the workers, they looked just like pounds! But they weren’t. the workers just asked for 9 pounds, but the spoiled girl payed her 500 fake pounds! every day and night this girl would repeat the same routine, she knew she was going to get in real gruesome trouble, but she still decided to do it.
On one specific day, this spoiled girl thought that she would buy more stuff than usual, she wanted to buy the magic rainbow pen where it can see which colour your thinking and it would write out whatever you think. This store is her absolute favourite store! she wanted to do this routine for her whole life…But today, this crashed her dreams, she was walking in the street and to the store, once she got to her favourite store, something unexpected happened…EVERYONE was shouting at her! even the polices! One police snatched the wallet from the girls hand and instantly threw it in the bin as fast as he could! Then, he locked her hands up with a handcuff and sent her to jail.
When she got there, one of the polices asked her address and whatever she could and has to explain, she could never ever lie about money ever again. And she was never trusted by no one…
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Hi Beth!
Sorry for the late response, this is from lesson 1,
Thank you for the lesson!
Finish the story
Everyone, especially the workers, were shocked! They were staring at the wallet so hard, but not realising that it was FAKE. This young sassy girl on the street was paying fake money to the workers, they looked just like pounds! But they weren’t. the workers just asked for 9 pounds, but the spoiled girl payed her 500 fake pounds! every day and night this girl would repeat the same routine, she knew she was going to get in real gruesome trouble, but she still decided to do it.
On one specific day, this spoiled girl thought that she would buy more stuff than usual, she wanted to buy the magic rainbow pen where it can see which colour your thinking and it would write out whatever you think. This store is her absolute favourite store! she wanted to do this routine for her whole life…But today, this crashed her dreams, she was walking in the street and to the store, once she got to her favourite store, something unexpected happened…EVERYONE was shouting at her! even the polices! One police snatched the wallet from the girls hand and instantly threw it in the bin as fast as he could! Then, he locked her hands up with a handcuff and sent her to jail.
When she got there, one of the polices asked her address and whatever she could and has to explain, she could never ever lie about money ever again. And she was never trusted by no one…
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Hi Beth sorry for the late homework,
This is from lesson 2,
Thank you!
The incident
David was in a place where the streets buzzed with life, every corner filled with voices, footsteps, and the constant hum of a crowd, it was Italy at its busiest time, the summer holidays. For some reason EVERYONE chose to go there! He instantly regretted coming.
Everyone was about half a metre far apart! Lot’s of people already died from not getting enough oxygen. David was absolutely freaked out! No way people can die like this! So he was being extra extra careful not to fall, and try to breathe properly, the city as already getting really stinky and smelly.
He quickly booked a hotel as quick as he could! He was really lucky, he literally bought the last room! The next day, he woke up at 8 am to get ready to eat breakfast, he eventually ate breakfast at 9am. He then decided to go to a theme park! The theme park was 10 minutes away by car from his hotel. He arrived at 10am, just in time for the theme park to open, his first ride was a tall bungee jump! He’s for sure a very brave man! Then he went on a high roller coaster that took him 2 hours to wait in line! Once he got on, something unexpected happened, the lap bars were not working! He shouted as loud as her can! But no matter how loud he was, he could never beat 200 people talking at the same time. The workers didn’t check and just started the ride, at the top of the first loop, David fell, the workers all called 911, but they didn’t realise he was already dead.
Overall, be careful when roller coasters are crowded, and care for your safety.
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Dear Beth,
Here is this week’s homework. I hope you have a great week and I hope you enjoy it!:)
Kind Regards,
Claire
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Hi Miss Beth Im a bit mis understand What you mean for the HW. But l still come up with some ideas and that my story
One day, a group of police officers came to a quiet house in a small town. An old woman lived there. Her name was Anna. She made tea for the police and smiled kindly.
The police said they were looking for someone. Anna stayed calm and asked questions like a normal person. She looked just like a kind, normal old woman.
But Anna had a secret.
Long ago, she was a soldier. A very strong and smart one. She had done many dangerous things. One day, she killed her husband.
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we thought about setting and how it can act as an emotional core in a story. We looked at ways of creating both familiar and unfamiliar setting and spoke about the different things it can communicate. The students came up with beautiful descriptions of settings they had created before workshopping these, adjusting them to fit characters and plotlines that moulded into the webs of the plot. Very good work everyone, you all wrote exquisitely today and worked together in your groups amazingly. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 5
In today’s class we worked on character and monologue. We spoke about what a monologue entails, how the characters reveal and conceal in equal measure, and looked at bringing out a character’s voice. We practiced with character creation and looked at different tips for inspiring a monologue, digging into the way emotions and memories could form the core. Excellent work from everyone today, really interesting and creative work. Keep up the great job guys, well done 🙂
Homework
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Fallen Leaf
A fallen leaf, simply I fall down in Autumn.
Nature causes me that, but now it is a rainy season.
Rain falls so heavily, as a leaf we see grain falling.
I have forgot my pain, you spectators don’t laugh.
I’m serious, DON’T LAUGH.
Oh and sorry for the late homework Beth.
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Hi Victor, I think you might have uploaded the wrong file, or uploaded to the wrong forum. If you upload the right thing I can mark it asap 😀
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I think you meant to post in the Monday comprehension forum. Here’s the link to that one: https://vmwedu.com/forums/topic/mon-11comprehension/
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“You stood there that night, watching. Did you think I wouldn’t see you? No, you wanted me to know. Well, here’s your reward: the truth. That fire didn’t start by accident. I struck the match. And I’d do it again.”
Sorry for the late homework 😅
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Summary for Lesson 6
In today’s class we looked at plot twists and how they can add layers to our writing. We spoke about why plot twists are important to use and how they can hook a reader in and looked at different ways of creating suspense through twists. We learned some techniques, discussed twists we’d enjoyed in stories we had read and played a game of matching characters to plot twists in order to create stories. The class read through a masterclass webpage on the topic and finally planned some amazing plot twists of their own. Wonderful and enthusiastic work everyone, very well done, I can’t wait to read what you come up with! 🙂
Homework
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One sunny, bright and cheerful afternoon at the beautiful wedding, the vicar was just about to open his mouth to speak, when an arrow charged towards the bride as quick as a flash. The audience gasped in shock while the arrow pinged the groom instead of the bride. Immediately, everyone who was attending the wedding left muttering to themselves.
The following week, there was a meeting in the office the bride was working in. She clearly expected for an update in the cafeteria, because there were hardly any water or any drinks in there. The boss, Andrew clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
‘Alright everyone, today I am going to talk about something,’
‘It’s obviously the 17 people who have been murdered, I can tell.’ interrupted Cleo the secretary.
‘ I think I’ve got to go,’ lied the bride ‘ I um have to go teach uh children yeah children.’ The bride ran off, knowing that if her dead husband had been killed, she would be next.
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Now reader, our story started when a man named John decided to marry Julie. They told all their friends and family about it. After a long time of preparations, it was finally time. As they were walking down the aisle, a gunshot pierced through the hall missing them by centimetres, they then saw their best friend fleeing the scene with a gun in his hand. Everyone was baffled, their friend tried to betray them! In revenge they decided to hunt him down. So they bought fancy gadgets and high-tech computers. The hunt had begun! Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, nothing was found, however when they thought all the hope was lost, they noticed a private jet ticket going to Japan with their friend’s name on it. So of they went to Japan. It was surprisingly easy to find him as he was sitting down on right next to the exit. “Why did you try to murder us?”
” I tried to lead you here so that you won’t suffer the bombs.” Had they misjudged him or was this another trick?
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HI, Beth
Please find Livvie’s home work in the attachment. Sorry I was away last week and couldn’t submit Livvie’s last week homework (even she did it). I have attached here too if you could kindly have a look, thanks!
Best Regards,
Annie
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Summary for Lesson 7
In today’s class we looked at genre and breaking conventions, thinking about how using unusual approaches to genre can keep our writing fresh and exciting. We learned what is meant by conventions and dug into how to break them in order to make an original story. We thought about combining contrasting genres and the effect of this and spoke about the class’s attitude towards genre in their writing currently. The class wrote some amazing stories, breaking the rules of convention and read a step-by-step guide on how to think this process through. Well done everyone, fantastic work as ever and really creative results. Keep it up! 🙂
Homework
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One day Jim and Joanna were at their honeymoon in the Maldives 🇲🇻 having a beautiful time at the hotel, until they heard the news that huge missiles were aiming at there area.In a flash, they changed into their secret spy gear with the world’s most powerful weapons. Now they had a country to save! Using their precise tracker they tracked the leader of the operation and to their surprise it was Fia (their best friend). They knew something wasn’t right when a few months ago Fia couldn’t help laughing when she saw them. Apparently she was hiding underneath the lands of Hawaii. Then a splendid plan came to their minds, what if they sit back and relax and let the smart bullets do the job. So that’s how the plan went. They ordered a huge of the bullets and sent them flying towards Fia. The next day, the news was reported that two unknown heroes sent smart bullets and left the leader of the operation dead. As Jim and Joanna huddled together in their bedroom, they winked at each other and smiled.
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Hi Beth,
My homework is written below,
As I walked down the clean gravel path, something shiny caught my eye. A watch, half-buried in the dirt, gleamed in the sunlight. I picked it up, noticing its strange design—the smooth silver band and an oddly-shaped face, with markings that seemed to shimmer.
Curious, I pocketed it and went home. I laid my four other watches out for comparison—each with its own story. The first was a simple leather one, the second a digital sports watch, the third a gold gift, and the fourth, a vintage heirloom.
But the new watch was different. Its hands ticked at an odd rhythm, and the symbols on the face shifted, almost alive. When I tilted it in the light, the reflections seemed to move, too.
Something about it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t just a watch—it was a mystery waiting to be uncovered.
I rushed to my best friend’s house, breathless with excitement, and told him everything. As I spoke, something strange happened. The dials on the watch started turning—backwards. Slowly, they spun in reverse, and I suddenly realized: we were going back in time.
The turning stopped abruptly. I looked around and found myself in a different world. A Victorian street stretched before me, smoke rising from chimneys. In the distance, a young boy sat on the cobblestone ground, his attention fixed on a wooden toy in his hands.
I approached him, heart pounding, and asked, “What year is it?”
He looked up at me, studying me as if I were the one out of place. After a long pause, he answered, “1837.” His gaze grew more intense. “You don’t look like you belong here.”
We bolted away from the boy, hearts racing, and found shelter behind a row of stinky bins. The grime and smell of the alley made my stomach turn, but I had bigger things to worry about. We were stuck in 1837, and I had no idea how to get us back.
I paced, trying to think of a plan, when—out of nowhere—the watch spoke.
“You must find cogs to fix me if you want to return,” it said, its voice oddly mechanical. “But cogs are expensive. You might be here for a long time.”
A wave of frustration washed over me. How could we get cogs without money? My mind raced. Then, in an instant, an idea hit me. What if we stole the cogs?
I turned to my friend, “We need to find a shop selling cogs.”
We scrambled through the streets, asking everyone we met, trying to find out where cogs were sold. Time was running out, and the clock in my head was ticking louder with every step.
What would happen next? Would they get caught stealing or would they make it back to the normal time?
Bruce
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Hi Beth, this is my homework.
My favourite genre is adventure and my least favourite genre is romance.
Wilder and Clara’s unexpected marriage
Beneath the crooked sky, prince Wilder and princess Clara are talking about how their going to plan their marriage, they were in deep love then, and it was their dreams to marry each other, but the king had a strict rule that his son Wilder can only marry someone until he is at least 29 years old, even though the whole city knows about this, he still can’t hold it in. One step forward, and everything would go up in flames—he knew it, but he still seized his chance to ask his father to marry her right now. Well he didn’t expect much, but everyone seemed to know he wanted this to happen but… guess what, he said no, everyone knew that except for Wilder. Clara came too as she predicted that Wilder would be here. They discussed and discussed about whether they should break the rules or not.
A few days past, they decided how they would marry, they decided their going to go on a mission, and go from their side of the world to another, right now they are in the UK, and their on a mission to go to Indonesia, it’s very random but they chose Indonesia. They made a unbelievably stupid excuse to get an awful lot of money from the king the excuse was “I need the money to cover urgent medical bills for a man that was kind to me on the street!.”
They got the money and the next day, they realised there was a plane to Pakistan and Indonesia which their planning to go on. The royalties where really excited because their dreams are finally coming true!
They arrived in Pakistan and only has 10 minutes to board the next plane! They made it in 9 minutes which is just in time. After they just had a normal wedding with nobody celebrating with them since it’s ‘illegal’ for them to do this and nobody knew them in Indonesia so they didn’t have anyone, overall the couple loved is and they couldn’t expect it to be more perfect.
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Hi Beth,
This is my homework for lesson 6.
Plot twist
In a beautiful cave, there was a young girl, she was born to be a drummer, but her parents want her to be a doctor. Since she was little, her parents have been forcing her to learn biology, she didn’t like it, nobody actually thought she was in this situation. This cave is this little girls house, it’s big, creative, modern and overall pretty. Her parents always made the house smell like a hospital with all the medicine and stuff, but this is pure evil since this is nothing good it’s a chemical that they spray and is bad for your skin and lungs, although in hospitals it smells like this but it’s more natural, and people don’t often live in that smell, for the people who is really poorly, they mostly get transferred into normal non-medication smelling room.
EVERY SINGLE DAY these evil parent have been treating the girl like this until one day, a letter arrived, it had a red sticky material on it, and had a H, the parents thought it was a letter that said something about the hospital or something, but when they opened it, it said she was hired to be a magician in Hogwarts!
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One sunny day at Dalton Theme Park, Kim was supervising her younger brother James who was only six. Just as James sat on a rusty, old rollercoaster, it fell to pieces. More than 10000 kids and adults died whilst riding that rollercoaster. Luckily, James survived but Kim did not. James ran back home, carrying Kim while tears started brimming in his sapphire, blue eyes. Surprisingly, when he got home, his bunk bed was a bit TOO messy. Cautiously, James crawled under his alien bedsheets to find a majestic portal leading to a magical place. The strange thing was, there were fresh footprints leading to a silhouette of the brand new Dalton Theme Park.
‘This is where my adventure starts Kim, one day you will come back to life.’ James whispered to the bright, blue sky.
He wondered and searched for days. Soon, the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and before James knew it, he heard a muffled sound in the distance which sounded like,
‘Help me James. It’s your sister.’
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Summary for Lesson 8
In today’s class we looked at sound in writing, thinking about how flow can hugely affect the feeling of a piece. We spoke about different understandings of lyrical prose, digging into what makes a piece lyrical and reading some examples of writing where the sound of the sentences matters. The class tried this out, writing some excellent pieces that aimed to evoke a particular emotion through sound and fluency, and we also dug into metaphor and how to make sure we are always outlining the comparison and showing the reader why the two things have been compared. Well done everyone, great ideas and very hard work today. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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The door creaked open. Swish, I turned. Nothing. Entering the house the floor boards moaned. Bam! The door behind me slammed shut. A low deep humming sound was coming from the basement. Curiously I went down the stairs. Crash! The boards gave way and I found myself in a dark and gloomy room. Whoosh! A candle lit up by its as if by magic. I woke up. It was all a dream.
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Summary for Lesson 9
In today’s class we completed a writer’s workshop, thinking about different types of writing advice and exercise to expand upon our control over voice, style and tone. The class completed some work in small groups, sharing and giving feedback to one another, and also thought through their feelings towards the pieces they have written recently. Wonderful creative work everyone, I am so excited to see what you come up with next week in our mini mock! You’ve been fantastic today, very well done 🙂
Homework
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HI Beth,
Please find Livvie’s home work in the attachment, sorry a bit late. thanks!
Best Regards,
Annie
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Dear Beth,
Thank you so much for being such an amazing teacher over this course. I have really enjoyed all of your lessons and I can’t wait for the next one. Here is my Mini Mock, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Have a brilliant summer, and thank you again.
Kind Regards,
Claire
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Summary for Lesson 10
Great job on your mock exams, everyone! Over the past ten weeks, you’ve shown real dedication, creativity, and consistently brought thoughtful, original ideas to the table. It’s been a pleasure working with you all- keep up the amazing work, and I look forward to seeing you in the next course! 😊
Homework
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